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Friday, May 4, 2012

Clothes Make the Mage

Virginia Postrel: On Glamour

I want to talk about a
tool with the potential for influence that is often overlooked in conversation
on sorcery, that being personal style and presentation. I recently discovered
an older lecture on "Ted Talks" by Virginia Postrel about
Glamour. I would like to touch upon a few of the points that she made and
expand upon them here. First let’s look at her definition of glamour:

Many magical operations
are designed to impress and persuade. I some cases the spell has been directed
at an individual that the worker is attempting to persuade or influence in some
way. Attention given to personal glamour can be a deciding factor in the
outcome of that working. Studies have shown that most people make a decision
about a new acquaintance within the first thirty second to two minutes of
interaction. It is within your power to influence that decision not only with
magical action, but with a carefully crafted image, as well as communication
skills. This naturally applies to interactions of both a personal
and professional nature.

When I was in New
Orleans this past fall at the Folk Magic Festival, one of female attendees of
the festival approached me and commented on how I was "The most elegantly
dressed man there". I don't say this to brag, because trust me when I say
that I won't be featured in a Calvin Klein ad anytime soon. After she made the
comment I began to try and explain to her that I consider personal image
another tool of sorcery. She nodded her head in agreement, but it seemed clear
that it had never occurred to her to utilize it as such. Some magicians
will dismiss the notion of mastering glamour as an art. They feel that if a
working is powerful enough than that is all that matters. More experienced
workers know that magic works better on a path of least resistance. Proper
glamour application can provide just that. No point in creating a mojo hand to
command respect and power, when your entire wardrobe comes from Hot Topic. I
was once guilty of that myself. Unless of course the circle that you are
attempting to influence and image you are attempting to project is of a gothic
nature.

What many tend to forget
in regards to glamour, which Postrel pointed out in her presentation is that
glamour was once thought of as being rooted in magical practice and witchcraft.
Consider the etymology of the word itself:

Glamour (n.)1720,
Scottish, "magic, enchantment" (especially in phrase to cast
the glamor), a variant of Scottish gramarye "magic,
enchantment, spell," alteration of English grammar (q.v.)
with a medieval sense of "any sort of scholarship, especially occult
learning." Popularized by the writings of Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832).
Sense of "magical beauty, alluring charm" first recorded 1840. As a
verb, by 1830s, from the noun. Via. Etymonline.com

The way that is applied
may have been changed, but the intent has not. Your chosen look can project an
air of enchantment, magical beauty, or alluring charm if you craft if that way.
As Postrel states, "Glamour is all about transcending the everyday".
People are rarely drawn in, attracted to, or impressed by the average or every
day. Be it mystery, beauty, power, success, or sex, people are attracted to and
long for the things that they do not encounter on a usual basis. If you can
successfully embody and project one or a combination of these things, than
you can influence and persuade a great many of people.

Two things to remember
when crafting your image which Postrel also points out are that glamour is an
illusion and should appear effortless. This is the balance that has to be
understood and mastered. As an illusion it is essentially a deception, or
misdirection, like a stage magician performing a sleight of hand. Also much
like a sleight of hand maneuver it should be practiced and honed until it seems
as if no effort is needed to pull it off, until appears to the target to be
magic. Practice in front of a mirror, work on your mannerisms, walk, body
language, posture, etc. Do t his so that nothing about you ever comes off as
unauthentic, forced, or awkward. Glamour is enchanting and elegant; you
should strive to be as well. People will often ask, "why not just be
yourself"? You are being yourself, just cultivating, practicing, and
projected a beneficial aspect of yourself that few take the time to do. There
is a part of everyone that is sexy, mysterious, powerful, and so on. You are
merely tapping into that with your image ad when done successfully those that
are attracted to such things will respond. Look around you, glamour is used all
around you to influence and persuade, and marketing, and the like. Shouldn't
you tap into that power?

I have never seen
glamour mentioned in connection with conjure practice. However if you look into
the old lore, and descriptions of many conjure men and woman, you will see that
they created images for themselves that projected power and mystery to attract
and persuade clients. Actually being able to project that onto a client is one
of the secrets to being able to help them. I will let you all ponder that for a
while. I know that I learned to importance and of image presentation early on
from my mother before I ever learned any conjure. I remember asking her once,
why she was going through the trouble of doing her hair, makeup, and the rest
just to run to the store. She replied with the old phrase, “you never get
another chance to make a first impression". I have heard people exclaim,
"I ain't trying to impress anybody". Well the fact is no matter what,
you are leaving an impression, as a sorcerer you should be in control of
that that impression is at all times.

Also we all know that
feeling that washes over us we know that we look good. Look good and you feel
good. Feel good and you begin to attract good, in whatever way you perceive it.
Looking good effects us and thus those around us on a metaphysical level.

Great article. Whether you're a native shaman wearing robes covered with feathers and bells or a CEO in a two thousand dollar suit, "the clothes make the man."

How you look affects how you feel and how others feel about you. Ever run into Lowe's for more supplies, drenched in sweat, covered in paint and drywall dust, and run into someone you haven't seen in years?

Came across your blog by chance, or at least don't remember how I got here, and have enjoyed it all - but this post in particular made me want to stand up in the middle of my office and clap!

And yet for as much as I agree with you, I'm also mostly guilty of the friendly admonitions therein - I rarely leave myself enough time to get properly done up, and as I read this, I realized what an easy correction that is to make.

Thank you for the kick in the ass I needed to put in better effort, and thank you for your entire fabulous blog!

Thank you, glad that you like this post and the blog. It is certainly a lot of effort to make your presence look effortless, but it pays off. I am sometimes guilty of not following my own advice and I can certainly see the difference when I don't. It's worth the effort. Thanks for reading.